Goa and Punjab to clash for title

In the first semi-final Goa edged past favourities Bengal in tie breaker 4-2 while in the second, Punjab after being goalless in first half beat Manipur by a solitary goal in 60th minute through Kularjeet Singh, in Jaipur on Wednesday.

The Bengal team which had reached semifinal by topping group A was being considered favourite against runner up of group B Goa. But Goa put up a spirited show and held Bengal goalless till the end of extra time.

It was the goalkeeper, 19-year-old promising lad Paul Fernandes, who saved the day for Goa. Fernandes, the reserve goalkeeper of Dempo club, brought about two brilliant saves in the tiebreaker as he thwarted Anupam Sarkar and Debasis Roy's shot. Taraknath and Dulal Patra but succeeded in tricking Fernandes scoring one each.

For the jubiliant Goa team, Meviton Fernandes, Anthony M D'mello, Bervi Teles and Joe Rodrigues smashed into the rival citadel.

The Punjab-Manipur match began at a fast pace and it initially appeared that the side from the north-east would prevail over their robust rival because of their planned attacks and accurate short passes. Punjab too had good penetrative moves at times but neither team could score till the breather.

In the second half, last year's runner-up Manipur looked still better but it was Punjab who got the decisive goal in the 60th minute of the match.

It was a good pass from the left side by Mandip Singh on which Sarvjeet Singh trapped the ball and passed it on to Kularjeet Singh who made no mistake banging home the match-winner with a powerful left footer.

Stung by the goal, Manipur tried hard to find the equaliser and got two corners just before the close but both were wasted. In the dying minutes, they tried hard but a feeble grounder by K Priyo Kumar was stopped by an agile Punjab goalkeeper. Punjab too had some chances to increase their margin but they too failed.

The final will be held in Jodhpur on January 4.